A doubling in the number of London cyclists over the past decade, along with the introduction of the Cycle to Work tax scheme (giving some employees as much as 50% off a new bike up to the value of £1,000), has meant there are simply more good bikes out there to be pinched.

In a recent survey, 80% of respondents reported having at least one bike taken – and one in six said they had recognised a stolen bike for sale on the internet. The evidence suggests this is a problem that has got out of hand.

In London alone, an estimated 80,000 bicycles are stolen every year, with a total value as high as £30m. Some of the thefts are opportunist crimes but there are also knowledgeable and efficient gangs in operation: it's not unusual to hear about vans pulling up outside suburban train stations or City offices, with thieves liberating the 10 or 15 most valuable bicycles (and motorbikes in some cases) before startled onlookers have even reached for a phone.

Bike theft has also been identified as a route into more serious crime for young people because the pickings are rich, while convictions are low considering the number of crimes.

Most frustrating for Londoners is seeing the plundered wares brazenly sold on the internet and at street markets. A trip down Brick Lane market looking for your own stolen property has become a sad part of London bike culture.

And you don't have to wear a deerstalker to pick out the dodgy "bargains" on Gumtree. Cyclist Amelia Coulam, who saw her bike for sale on the site after it was stolen, said: "I was so angry, because this person was selling at least 20 bikes under various names."

Some are quick to blame the police, who have been accused of treating bike theft as trivial. But the police are not always in control of their own priorities, so lobbyists have to focus on changing politicians' attitudes to ensure cycle theft becomes a law enforcement priority.

Surely bike theft is equally frustrating for politicians? Yes, cycling budgets are tiny compared with spend on roads and public transport, but millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is still spent encouraging this non-polluting, congestion-busting, health-boosting mode of transport.

So what can be done? Well, the Dutch had an overwhelming problem with bike theft but halved it during a decade of concerted efforts from national and regional government, law enforcement agencies, manufacturers, internet sellers and bike shops. They standardised bike numbering and encouraged bike sellers to sign up to a code of practice that encourages buyers to choose honest sellers and not buy stolen goods unwittingly.

London Cycling Campaign has for a long time been calling for a specialist bike-theft police squad to make life tougher for thieves. And internet sites must work with the police to make selling stolen bikes much more difficult. Consistently strong policing of street markets and a Dutch-style bike shop code of practice would make a difference too.

Longer term, the UK needs more secure cycle parking. Employers who provide car spaces should be compelled to provide secure bike spaces too (you can fit at least 10 bikes into the space for one car), and every UK city needs secure parking in city centres, at transport hubs and around residential developments.

A central repository for stolen bikes in each city, like the vast facility in Amsterdam, would help reunite owners with bikes, many of which are never returned to their owner because the individual cannot be traced.

The good news is that persistent lobbying by campaigners seems to be having some effect. Recently, Gumtree has shown a willingness to address the problem; the police are making the right noises; and Transport for London has been asking cyclists what more can be done.

Cynics might say the imminent arrival of 6,000 of the mayor's own bikes on to London's streets has something to do with these latest signs of action. Whatever the impetus, with luck this year will see moves to reverse the longterm increase in bike theft.

Ignoring bike theft for years has created a serious problem: now it will take years of effective policing and policymaking to fix it. In the meantime, lock your bikes up securely (watch the video above) and Beat the Thief.

• Mike Cavenett is communications officer at the London Cycling Campaign